Definition

This is a header only library that defines a macro for adding reflection information to a class. This reflection information can optionally be used to define a boost::serialization serialize method inside the class.

Dependencies

This library depends on boost::mpl and boost::preprocessor. The REFLECTED_SERIALIZATION() macro depends on boost::serialization.

Usage

The macro to use is REFLECTION. Its first argument is the class name, the second argument is a boost::preprocessor sequence defining the base classes and members.

Base classes are defined as a boost::preprocessor tuple of two arguments: the access specifier and the base class type.

Members are defined as a boost::preprocessor tuple of three arguments: the access specifier, the type and the variable name. When defining a member it also gets declared, so no separate declaration is needed.

class DerivedClass : public SimpleClass {

    REFLECTION(DerivedClass,
        ((public, SimpleClass))
        ((private, int, count))
        ((protected, std::string, name))
    )
    
};

Reflection information

The REFLECTION macro creates two typedefs: base_classes and members. These are both boost::mpl::vector instantiations, holding all the base class reflection information and member reflection information respectively.

Base class reflection information

From the reflection information of a base class you can access the following:

Type

A typedef for the actual base class type.

static const char* type()

A static method that returns the type name as supplied by typeid(Type).name().

static const char* access

The access specifier as string.

Member reflection information

From the reflection information of a member you can access the following:

Type

A typedef for the actual member type.

static const char* type()

A static method that returns the type name as supplied by typeid(Type).name().

static const char* access

The access specifier as string.

static const char* name

The name of the member variable.

static Type& get(ContainingClass& c)

Returns a reference to the member when supplied with a reference to the containing class.

static const Type& get(const ContainingClass& c)

Returns a const reference to the member when supplied with a const reference to the containing class.

Serialization

The macro REFLECTED_SERIALIZATION implements a boost::serialization serialize method using the reflection information. If you want to use polymorphic pointers you will need to use the boost::serialization macro BOOST_CLASS_EXPORT.

class DerivedClass : public SimpleClass {

    REFLECTION(DerivedClass,
        ((public, SimpleClass))
        ((private, int, count))
        ((protected, std::string, name))
    )
    
    REFLECTED_SERIALIZATION()
};